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Winter Work at the Tying Table
THURSDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
Is it all about to happen?
We've been in a late summer - early fall pattern for a while now. The surface activity has seemed to come and go without consistency. The primary forage around the mouth of the river has been sand eels, pollack and a few mackerel. The ledges upriver have been producing fish slot sized and just a bit larger on a regular basis but the big fish are still spotty.
The outer beaches held plenty of stripers from 18 to 22 inches over the weekend. These fish were keyed in on small bait, displaying a clear preference for sand eel patterns, very sparse jigs, 6 inch sluggos and other thin offerings. There were small pods of bluefish chasing the sand eels in the same areas. The blues moved into the river mid-week. We never found fish that would cooperate for more than a cast or two into the splashes. I haven't spent time looking for them over the past few days, so I don't know if many are still here. I did loose some plastic tails to blues roaming deeper water further upriver, but never found consistent action warranting a change to wire leaders.
I have been seeing mackerel tearing onto the sand eels. The surface splashes have been short lived and limited in size, leading me to think that the schools are small.
My kitchen window looks out to a corner of a bay that funnels water dropping off of a large flat. When the peanut bunker move into the river in large numbers or when the juvenile alewives drop down in sizable schools, the bass patrol this water regularly. I haven't seen any bait here, other than sand eels, in a quite a while. The water has been stirred up by rain and wind so sighting conditions are poor. I haven't seen or heard stripers in this pocket for almost a week. Every time I stop here in the boat there are a few fish to be caught.
Early this week I was greeted at the mouth of the river by hundreds of gulls and cormorants chasing bait on the flats. AT LAST...! The wind was up and the bait was not right on the surface. What I did see looked like juvenile herring or alewives. The fish were cooperative but small. Given the rough water, there was no way to visually target larger fish. Could this be the start of what we have all been expecting?
-- Capt. Peter Fallon
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
"Mixed" continues to be the review of the fishing in and around the lower Kennebec.
Thursday and Friday evenings last week we found easy fishing - keep your eyes and ears open and cast to the breaking fish. Three to five inch Mushmouths and MegaMushies were effective enough to limit fly choice experimentation. Colors ranged from all white to dark back over white to all dark. I couldn't discern a preference held by these fish. There were not acres of fish busting bait, just a few scattered splashes reveling the presence of more stripers beneath the surface. Saturday's morning charter involved four guides to accommodate a wedding party. In four hours of spin fishing the four boats only landed about thirty fish. A few schools made brief surface appearances. Most of the success came on tightly bunched schools holding in deeper water or fish holding very tight to structure in quickly moving water. From my pretrip scouting, I suspect that we would have found more fish if we had started at 5:00 AM, but these guests had a busy weekend in front of them and hours of sleep were precious and scarce.
I was not on the water Sunday or Monday. Reports that I heard were solidly mixed. Tuesday was consistently productive on both outgoing and incoming tides. We covered a lot of water to find fish, but once located they were cooperative. In some places a very fast retrieve was clearly most productive. The bucktail jigs just couldn't move fast enough, especially for the larger fish. Dead drifted soft plastics hardly got a sniff. In other spots the key was getting the jig or lure to bounce right along the bottom. The drift of the boat imparted all of the action and movement necessary. I didn't see a fish on the surface for either tide but the fishing was great. I was expecting that the approaching storm would make Wednesday even better. Well...I did find fish on the surface both in deeper water and right against the mudflats at low water, but...the fish that only showed themselves thanks to Raymarine seemed less aggressive than the day before. The fish in shallow water were chasing very small bait that I never saw clearly. For these slot fish, small sand eel flies were as productive as wild eye shads. Maybe there were juvenile herring flushing through the waters I hit yesterday that had the deeper holding, larger fish excited...?
The tides this week have been exceptionally mild. The period of slack water comes sooner and last longer. One strategy is to target rips and ledges that are usually difficult to fish well because the water moves too fast. You have much better control over your fly or hardware when it isn't ripping along at six knots. It is also easier to get your offering to tend bottom for a longer period of time. Large patterns tied sparsely and with an inverse hook are also a help. For the light tackle anglers, braided line is a godsend in the bottom bouncing game. If you have yet to try it, don't say you'll just wait until next season. Get a spool wound with PowerPro, FireLine, Super Braid or one of the other brands. The improvements in these lines over the past few years is significant. I used to swap out all of the spools of braid when guests were less than very experienced anglers. The lines are now much more cooperative and less likely to snarl and fray. The wind knots that do occur are easier to pick out if you catch them right away. My approach is now to try to teach most clients to manage the line and switch to mono only if needed.
We are seeing an increase in the average size of the fish coming to the boat. Other guides have corroborated this trend. I am starting to hear rumors from tuna chasers of baby bunker well offshore. The fishing in and around the river will be getting better and better as more juvenile alewives drop down from the ponds. It will explode once the little pogies move into the beaches and onto the flats. The new moon is fast approaching and that is good news.
-- Capt. Peter Fallon
Thursday, 2 September
The fishing in and around the Kennebec River seems to be transitioning to the more consistent patterns of September. Late last week was a mix of decent days alternating with challenging trips. I spent most of my time either fishing the flats or staring at the sounder screen searching for fish holding in deep water, around ledges and drop offs.
The fish in the shallow water were aggressive at times, chasing sand eels and busting small schools of bait that could have been silversides or young herring. I would see a pod of stripers cruising, watch a very brief blitz, then see no surface activity for quite a while. It is always a welcome break for clients to throw a floating or intermediate line on a seven or eight weight after chucking a 300 to 500 grain head with a large pollack or mackerel fly. If you are headed to shallow water this time of year, bring along your box(es) of larger bonefish flies. Various shrimp and crab patterns can be the key to success on those days when the skinny water stripers are fussy. As soon as the peanut bunker arrive, I put the bonefish flies away and go back to the baitfish imitations.
The fish stacked in deep water were scattered and not always cooperative. The fly, jig or metal needed to be right down close to the bottom. It paid to keep moving and searching, as many often productive spots were quiet even at the best time of tidal flow. When we found the hungry fish, they obliged us.
In just the past two days I’ve noticed a change in the type of water that I’ve found most productive. Plenty of fish between 24 and 30 inches are holding in the seems, eddies, and rip lines formed by shore structure and moving water. Occasionally an individual fish will reveal its presence with a slurp or a splash. The juvenile alewives are moving down the river and the bass are more aggressive and spread out. If you mark a couple of fish or see one swirl, keep drifting that stretch of shoreline. Cast your fly or plug right up against the structure and fish it through the “good looking water”. We’ve taken some of the larger fish close to or on the surface. They key has been placement of the fly or lure.
September is a phenomenal month to fish this watershed. The fish have growing appetites and heavy bellies. There are great days of sight fishing ahead when many large bass cruise the shallow waters that hold juvenile pogies. There are far fewer boats on the river. The shorter days make it much easier to get in a couple of hours before dawn or after sunset and still have some semblance of a normal schedule. Some of the best fishing will come at noontime under a clear sky. Best of luck.
Capt. Peter Fallon
WEEK OF AUGUST 22nd
A weekend wedding and two days offshore has me feeling a bit out of touch with the nuances of the river. What I have found confirms that this is August. One day the fishing is decent, the next day ... we are working for fish. Fishing early in the morning has made a significant difference this past week. When I have had clients that wanted to start at 6:00 AM I have been on the water by 4:00. The numbers and size of the stripers seemed to decrease significantly once the sun was up for an hour or so. The fishing at sunset and later has been less consistent than it was the past two weeks.
On Friday I had a charter that was interested in focusing on stripers. We found plenty of fish, but just couldn't buy a keeper. We saw a few blues caught between Wood Island and Pond Island about midday. The bluefish in the river that evening were plentiful and large, with the average size about eight or nine pounds. At times they would be crashing the surface in the back eddies of the river's coves. Other times they were scattered in the deeper water of the main channel. These fish were puking up herring 3 to 4 inches long.
The rains of Saturday have the river looking like 2 AM truck stop coffee, especially towards the bottom of the dropping tide. The water clarity on either side of the mouth improves dramatically, although it is still on the murky side. In these areas smallish flies in white, smoke or clear colors still seem to be out producing larger offerings in pollack or mackerel patterns, although I have not fished in these spots before or at sunrise.
There are plenty of pollack around to add to the live well. I have consistently found mackerel off the south side of Seguin. I haven't seen the macs back inside the river but did hear of people catching them all the way up to Morse Cove, if you believe that. There are good sized herring available in the deeper water off of the outer ledges. Cruise the edges where the humps meet the deeper water and watch the sounder. You'll need a jig or weight of at least four ounces attached to your Sabiki rig to get down to the bottom.
I haven't gone looking for blues in the river for a couple of days. I don't know if the increase in fresh/silty water has pushed them back out. They had been scattered from the mouth all the way up to Doubling Point. Most folks were picking them up trolling. There have been good sized schools of blues off of Small Point, between Ragged Island and Fuller Rock. Crease flies and epoxy patterns worked well enough that we didn't have to do much experimenting.
I have thought about breaking out my gloves the past two mornings, especially when the wind was out of the north. I've seen more blacks and mallards flying around. Fall must be around the corner. Hopefully the peanut bunker will show up earlier than they did last season. After an Androscoggin River trip Thursday morning, I'll be focusing on stripers and blues for the next few days. If anyone wants an update, just send me an email and I will respond.
Capt. Peter Fallon
WEEK OF AUGUST 15th
The June-like striper fishing of last week has slowed, but the fishing is still good for mid-August. We had a significant drop in water temperatures about ten days or so ago. There were places in the lower river and outside of the mouth that were ten degrees cooler than they had been. That temperature change seemed to coincide with the increase in striper activity on the surface and the more aggressive tendencies of larger fish. I found the most consistent, steady and widespread action when the barometer was stable for a period of time.
Since then the water temps have been creeping steadily upwards and the stripers have become more finicky and less dependable. The fish have been sipping and gulping on the surface after dark on every night that I have been out. One evening they will chase a slider and attack a grocery fly. The next night they stay in their feeding lanes, only taking what comes to them. This is challenging fishing on any night but the lack of any moon light has made it even more difficult.
Small bait continues to dominate the menu. There are good sized schools of what look like very small herring scattered throughout the river. Some folks are reporting seeing peanut bunker, but all of the bait that I have seen is not as deep bodied as the young menhaden. The sand eels are certainly larger than they were at the start of the season. When the bass have been sluggish, lazy or reticent small flies and lures have often out produced larger offerings. When the fish have been more active and cooperative, large flies and jigs fished deep have brought in the bigger fish. The mackerel are scarce both here in the Kennebec and in the New Meadows. Boothbay is the place to go to jig up some macs for live lining. I did see small schools of spike mackerel around Small Point this week. The pollack are plentiful.
The bluefish invaded the lower river again early this week. Is there some connection to water temps? There were plenty of big fish in these schools and they were taking poppers readily. Have your wire handy.
We'll see what happens to the fishing over the next couple of days as the remnants of Bonnie and Charlie move through our area. My guess is that there will be times of great fishing interspersed between periods when everything slows to a crawl.
Best Luck,
-- Capt. Peter Fallon
SATURDAY, JUNE 6th
I fished Saturday morning on the incoming tide with Peter and Tony Cox. The father-son team hadn't fished together in a while, but the competitive spirit was not rusty. Tony had been away from a fly rod for a few years, but within ten casts he was throwing the ten weight and 400 grain line with ease. As is usually the case, Peter landed the first fish of the day on a white and chartreuse Clouser. Tony was getting hits on a purple Clouser, but he couldn’t keep a fish on the line. After about six hook ups without landing one fish, I was kidding Tony that his dad had asked me to clip off the end of his hook.
We found the schoolies in the warmer waters, although I saw much less surface activity than earlier in the week. Once again, the mouth of the Back River held fish. They were Clouser cooperative and we didn't spend much time trying different patterns. Color didn't seem to make much difference. The fish were down a bit, but an intermediate line allowed to settle was as effective as anything else that they cast. The fish would hit the fly on the drop as well as on the retrieve. Still small in size, we did watch one fish about 24” follow Tony’s fly right to the boat.
We ran up the Back River on the rising tide and then headed down the Sasanoa to an incredible lunch spot perched on the shore of the Sheepscot River. “Momma D’s” was the place to be. We were in the sun for the first time in a week and we were ready to stretch our stomachs. Deloris (Momma D) brought out a couple of pounds of steamed crab claws and clams to get us started. The feasting continued with fried clams, shrimp, scallops, and homemade fries and onion rings. At least we passed on the pie, this time.
I fished the first half of the ebb tide on the run home. Mid-day water temps out front on the ocean were between 49 and 52 degrees. I found temps as high 61 on the ebb up in the marshes. The warmer water was the place to be. The fish seemed have filled in to many of the usual early season spots.
I was on the water Sunday from 5:30 AM to 4:30 PM but was not fishing. I saw no sign of fish chasing bait, nor any birds working where I was.
Capt. Peter Fallon
WED, 3 JUNE
I launched the boat Wednesday at 3:00 PM, decked out in long johns and Gore-tex with my gloves and wool hat at the ready. It had been drizzling all day, but the East wind hadn’t blown much over 5 knots. Within an hour I was shucking layers and casting in bare feet.
Checked out spots around Green Point and Lee Island. Murky water and lots of debris kept me moving down river. I had intended to get up into the marsh creeks at high water but I was too late in the tide.
I had stopped into the Kennebec Angler earlier in the day when Chris was just stocking a new supply of soft plastics from Calcutta. They looked and felt great and I certainly caught plenty of little fish on them, but I don’t yet have that faith in them that I do in the Storm Wild Eye Shad. The Calcuttas showed up well in the turbid water and they will be at the top of the stack of new lures to keep trying.
The warmer (that’s a relative term) water flushing out of the mouth of the Back River held ample schoolies. The fish were not showing on surface when I first started drifting the current seams. I picked up small fish after small fish.
It turned out to be the perfect evening for the six weight and a floating line. Now that’s just fun, even if the fish are only 16”. It was a good time to play with line and rod combinations on both the spinning and fly gear. I am still working out preferences for braid in different situations. I have narrowed down choices to Fireline, Power Pro and Superbraid in a variety of diameters. The fish were not finicky about their fly preferences. I tossed white 4” herring imitations, 3/0 to size 2 Clousers, flat wing snake flies, purple eel patterns … I couldn’t find anything over twenty inches. A couple of guys fishing near me said that they picked up fish to twenty four inches before I got there. Spent a good bit of time forsaking the little guys and bouncing the 6” soft plastics off the bottom. Nothing… I ran around for a while in search of bigger fish… nothing. I am spoiled from my past week in Boston Harbor, catching fish to 31lbs.
I saw the bass pushing small herring (about 3 to 4 inches long) to the surface. Must have been small bait around as well, as the terns were also working the water at times. The presence of the small herring is a good sign. The alewives are no longer the only big mouthful around. News from the local alewife runs in Phippsburg and Topsham is that the upstream migration is slowing way down. Many of the alewives have spawned and are now dropping back down the river
For quite a while the stripers were crashing bait on the surface and then that action slowed down with the drop in the current. The bass were still stacked up on the edge of the flats and very cooperative, just not revealing their presence as willingly. As the tide filled in, the fish moved up into shallow water and a soft plastic or bucktail dead drifted along the shore structure would get hit every few casts.
